The difficulties encountered by Marvel’s high-profile Halo 3 prelude could easily have discouraged major publishers from trying to tap into the video games market. Wildstorm, however, has obviously not been dissuaded, with DICE’s pakour courier now joining the Gears of War squad on comic store shelves. That’s not to say that the lessons of Brian Bendis’s misfire have not been taken to heart, with a number of astute decisions leading to an entertaining read.

Rather than trying to directly tie the plot to a game that is not yet released, Rhianna Pratchett sensibly sets the comic several years prior to the on-screen story, taking the opportunity to flesh out Faith’s background. Kicking off a six-issue limited series, this opening firstly provides an introduction both to the protagonist and the basics of her world, before introducing the A-story that will presumably stretch across the remainder of the issues. Despite this work serving as Pratchett’s comics debut, the game’s writer does an extremely slick job of structuring the story, with good use made of her small cast of characters and a nicely unexpected action sequence during the second half of the issue. Matthew Smith’s art initially seems an odd choice for the title, with his manga-influenced style noticeably at odds with the photo-realistic cover. Once the book moves outdoors, however, his selection makes much more sense, with his clean and bright work will-suited to reproducing the game’s deliberately sterile urban aesthetic.

The issue’s only stumble comes in the first few pages, which overlays a three-way dialogue on top of a flashback sequence showing how Faith originally met her employer. Given that this is the first time the reader has encountered these figures, however, it’s slightly confusing to read, with the effort of working out who’s speaking slightly distracting from the tale. This misstep aside, there’s an intelligent approach to the storytelling, with the doctrine of “show don’t tell” adhered to throughout. Instead of using dialogue to spell out the city’s nature as a totalitarian utopia, the writer instead shows a run-in with military police and the horror of citizens when a rogue element arrives in their back garden. This approach is also taken in respect of the main character, whose absence of extraneous backstory allows the cliffhanger revelation to carry weight. Mirror’s Edge is a pleasant surprise, and should have no difficulty in sustaining interest throughout the remainder of its run.